The primary goal of this K23 proposal is to train Pete S. Kollbaum, OD as an independent clinician-scientist. This training plan emphasizes mentoring in advanced polychromatic optical modeling and vision science, as well as advanced training in biostatistics and epidemiology. It will span 2 years of a Ph.D. program, followed by a 2-year post-doctoral training program. Concurrent with this, a 3-year MPH program will be completed (total of 4 years training). According to the recently published NEI "National Plan for Eye and Vision Research" (November 2003) a corneal disease program goal is to "apply the knowledge acquired from discoveries in basic science" for the treatment of these diseases (e.g., keratoconus). The estimated prevalence of keratoconus is 54.5 per 100,000 (Kennedy, Bourne et al. 1986). However, currently the most common and sometimes only treatment option for keratoconic eyes is contact lens correction. However, even with these corrections the attainable vision is still well below average due to residual aberration. Therefore, the long-term goal of this project is to develop adaptable non-surgical methods to achieve wavefront corrected optics and enhanced visual performance for both eyes with normal levels of aberration (normal) and pathological eyes with high amounts of aberration (keratoconic) eyes. Polychromatic optical models will be developed using soft and gas permeable contact lenses specifically designed to decrease (aberration-reducing) or increase (multifocal) the eye + lens aberrations. Quantification of the optical characteristics of the naked eye, the ex-vivo contact lens, the corneal shape, and the real-time contact lens position will be used. The models will be validated comparing the model predictions to the real-time whole eye aberrometry results and to the achieved polychromatic visual function. These models will have general applicability to other diseased conditions in which visual performance is degraded due to increased optical aberrations. [unreadable] [unreadable]